Crypto Custody Firm Anchorage Digital Axes 20% Of Staff, Blames Regulatory, Macroeconomic Challenges ⋆ ZyCrypto

Crypto bank Anchorage Digital is slashing 20% of its workforce, citing U.S. regulatory uncertainty and macroeconomic challenges as factors that influenced the decision.

Anchorage Lays Of 20% Of Staff

Anchorage Digital is letting go of some employees.

The company is cutting 20% of its staff, equating to 75 people, in response to the ongoing regulatory uncertainty in the United States. In a Tuesday blog post, Anchorage described the layoffs as “a strategic realignment to better focus our resources,” noting “broad macroeconomic challenges and crypto market volatility” as other factors leading to the change in strategy.

Anchorage noted that despite the market volatility, the demand for its product and client assets under custody are at an all-time high. “These same macroeconomic, market and regulatory dynamics are creating headwinds for our business and the crypto industry,” the U.S.-based firm explained.

In January 2021, Anchorage became the first crypto firm in the United States to be awarded a national trust bank charter by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Many crypto firms have announced similar plans to Anchorage Digital in response to adverse market conditions, with the likes of Polygon, Dapper Labs, and Immutable all trimming their workforce this year.

The layoffs at Anchorage come amid a U.S. crypto banking crisis following the collapse of three digital assets-friendly financial institutions last week. 

Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate, and Signature Bank all went under within days of each other, pushing the U.S. Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and Treasury Department to step in on Sunday to guarantee no losses would be borne by the banks’ depositors. The New York regulator maintained Signature was not shuttered due to crypto-related reasons, refuting claims that the regulator took over the bank to send an “anti-crypto message”.

It’s not clear whether these banks’ failure played a role in Anchorage’s decision.